More “scrubbing” found at CPS

The Ohio Department of Education has found yet more evidence of “data scrubbing” at Cincinnati Public Schools.

It says the district improperly reported the attendance data of 24 students in 2012-13. It sent a letter this week to Superintendent Mary Ronan informing her that the state will recalculate the 2012-13 report cards for the district and its schools by incorporating those 24 students’ test scores.

ODE had investigated data for 1,088 students. It is unclear whether the test scores of those 24 students will cause ratings to drop for the district or any of its schools.

The letter stated the district “failed to meet the burden of proof required to demonstrate it made a good faith effort” to report the data.

A school spokeswoman said the district has cooperated. “While mistakes certainly were made, we found no evidence of intentional manipulation of data and we’re happy the process has now been clarified to the point where it appears all the reporting issues have been rectified,” spokeswoman Janet Walsh said.

This is the latest chapter in a massive investigation of data scrubbing at school districts throughout Ohio. Districts were accused of manipulating student attendance to boost their scores on the Ohio Report Card. ODE has issued new 2010-11 report cards for six school districts including Cincinnati and Winton Woods. District ratings for both remained unchanged. It follows findings that Cincinnati also improperly reported attendance data in 2011-12, and now 2012-13.

The state has been monitoring data from 2013-14 and says it has found no further evidence of scrubbing. It is closing the investigation, but will monitor data submissions. “We hope they’ve been able to take corrective actions,” said ODE spokesman John Charlton. “Maybe it’s taken a while to put those corrective actions in place.”

ODE will review the case to decide whether any individuals participated in “conduct unbecoming.” Sanctions could include revocation of teaching licenses. ■